The New Irken On The Planet
by Invader Cas and Lya the Human
Summary: The final chapter's up! The tale of Invader Cas, my fancharacter.
1. The Final Test

Here it is! Our first fanfic! It's the story of me, Cas, coming to Earth. Lya's not in it yet, though. She's making her own fanfic, because she comes in a while after I do. Zim and Dib won't come in until the fourth or fifth chapter, sorry!   
  
CHAPTER ONE-- THE FINAL TEST  
  
I stared at the view-screen on my desk. I only had one question left, and it was a hard one. I knew that the answer was inside my brain somewhere, but I couldn't find that information at the moment.  
  
"Come on, Cas." I whispered to myself. "You know who this was. You know who ruined Operation Impending Doom One."  
  
Suddenly, it clicked. It was Zim! He had ruined it by accidently trying to blow up our own planet, Irk. Using my pencil, I scribbled the name "Invader Zim" in the blank space under the question. I was finally done with the test.  
  
I leaned back in my chair and dropped my pencil, dark blue and thin, onto the little metal desk that my test view-screen was on. I wanted to let out a sigh, but other Irkens had not finished the test yet. I instead busied myself with summoning the teacher-bot over to my chair.  
  
"I'm done." I whispered to it, holding up my test. The Teacher-Bot hovered over to me and took the test. It then held it in front of its "eyes" and scanned in my answers.  
  
"Thank you, Cas." It said, before hovering over to Mir, who had also finished her test.  
  
I was closer with Mir than I was with any other Irken, she was the only female in the class other than me. We would sometimes practice for class together.  
  
My name was Cas. Just Cas. I was a female Irken; with big, red eyes and curly antennae. Don't forget my bright green skin and dark blue blood.  
  
Being female Irkens, we were outshone by the males in the class. I always did the best out of anyone else in the class, but it didn't ever matter with all th ignorant male Irkens in the class.  
  
Since the second best Irken in the class was a headstrong male named Hur, he always received the credit that rightfully belonged to me. I despised him for it.   
  
Come to think of it, I hated all Irken males who thought they were better than me; especially the Almighty Tallest. They always acted as if I were a nobody because I was a short female.  
  
As I remembered how short I was, I also remembered how I knew the name Zim so well. He was the shortest Invader in Irken history, and I was often compared to his height. Many an Irken thought I should drop out of the Irken Acadamy because I was so short. Most of them were males as well.  
  
I was shaken out of my thought when the Teacher-Bot took its spot in the front of the platform. The platform that we were taught on was many miles above the face of Irk, so that we weren't interrupted by other Irkens during our lessons.  
  
"The test-time is now over. If I have not yet taken and corrected your test, you must give it to me now!" The Teacher-Bot announced.  
  
Now, I sighed. Hur and a few other Irkens that sat in chairs by him got engaged in a conversation about the test. I looked at them, wearing a look that showed great comtempt.  
  
"QUIET!" The Teacher-Bot shouted, then numbers and letters started flying across the screen under its eyes. Every Irken on the platform shut up immediately to watch the Teacher-Bot. It would be telling us if we passed the course or not any minute now.  
  
That's what the test had been. It was a final to show if we had learned enough in Invader School to become a real Invader. I knew that I should pass the course; the only question I had to think about was the last one.  
  
"Here are the scores; from the highest to the lowest. Remember, only the highest five scorers will be able to take part in Operation Impending Doom Two." The Teacher-Bot announced. "The rest of you are not going to take part in anything until the next doom operation."  
  
I humphed. Out of the sixty or Irkens in the class, only five of us would actually become Invaders for this big operation. I knew that Hur would be allowed to join in  
  
Everyone in the class watched the Teacher-Bot eagerly. Finally, it announced: "The highest scorer is Cas, with One-Hundred percent."  
  
Hur, who was preparing to accept the recognition of the highest scorer, gave me a glare stronger than any he had given me before. I tried to ignore him, and I also tried to mask my triumph.  
  
"The second-highest scorer in the class is Hur, with a score of Ninety-Eight percent. You missed the last question, Hur, it was Zim that ruined Operation Impending Doom One" The Teacher-Bot announced.  
  
I looked over at Hur. The look on his face became even more sour. He glared at the Teacher-Bot with fury beyond anything I had ever seen. It was almost as if he wanted to attack the bot until it gave him the best score.  
  
By now, the Teacher-Bot had announced the other three that would parttake in the current mission. I didn't hear the rest of the names and scores, but I did see three other Irkens with triumphant looks on their faces. Neither of them were Mir.  
  
I felt a sickening lurch in my Squeedly Spooch as the platform started to slowly descend towards the ground of Irk. This signalled that today's lesson was over and it was time for us to return to our home-bases. I got off my chair and folded it into a small carrying case, then put my metal screen and pencil inside.  
  
I walked over to where Mir was folding up her own chair and looked at her.  
  
She sensed my presence and said, without looking up, "Congratulations, I guess. I'll be spending the dark season on Irk. Again. Might as well take the course over again."  
  
It then struck me that this had only been my first year in this class, while many of the other Irkens here had been here for many light and dark seasons. For the first time in my twenty-four seasons on Irk, I felt sympathetic towards another Irken.  
  
"You'll get to join some big plot next season." I said to Mir.  
  
"Ha. I doubt it." She said. "I've already been through this course for five seasons. You are going to be a good Invader, do you have any ancestors that were Invaders?"  
  
I shrugged. I had never bothered to even find out who my parents were. They had never known me, and they never would. "I never looked up my ancestry."  
  
"Most Irkens haven't." Mir replied simply. I felt the platform hit the ground and saw other Irkens, that had been going about their daily business, watching us. "Well, see you later. Maybe they'll give you an important planet?"  
  
"We'll see." I said to her, jumping off the side of the platform and heading in the direction of my lot of land.  
  
The platform had landed, as usual, in a room inside the main laboratory of Irk. Every Irken had a laboratory on their land, but this is the only one that provided the newest technological information and jobs for the major population of Irk. It also took up a lot of space on Irk's surface.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
I have up to chapter five written, so they'll be up real soon. If you bothered to read this, please review. Flames accepted. 


	2. Preparing to Leave

Here's chapter two. Don't read unless you've already read chapter one. I don't own any IZ characters, aside from Cas and OIR.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
I exited the room where the teaching platforms were kept and walked through the familiar halls of the laboratory. I walked past a lot of other Irkens, most of which I didn't know, still proud that I was now a true Invader. Clutched in my hand was my test, which the Teacher-Bot had marked with a barcode that would show the Almighty Tallest that I could join the operation.   
  
It seemed to take almost no time to reach the exit of the laboratory.   
  
I shielded my eyes from the Lyra, the star that shone light on our planet. Soon Lyra's shine would be on the other side of Irk, plunging our side into the dark season. Lyra was a red star, but it was very far from our planet, so there was little heat from it.  
  
As my eyes adjusted to the change of light, I started heading towards my home-base. I could get to my base from anywhere on Irk; though I had never been further away from it than the main laboratory, which was roughly three miles away.  
  
There was one thing that was needed to travel on the Irken streets: arachnelegs. This nifty invention was built into the Standard Irken Equipment Pack. That pack was attached to every Irken as a child and contained a number of things needed in the daily lives of Irkens.  
  
I stuck my toe in the road before I activated my arachnelegs. I didn't know why, but Irken roads were made of an odd substance that was liquid when left alone, but solid when touched. The road looked to be liquid when I stuck my foot in, but it turned solid around it. I pulled my foot out and shook off the substance.  
  
I then activated my arachnelegs with just a simple command in my mind. The Pack was connected to my nerves, so a simple thought could activate anything in it. The four metal legs lifted me into the sky and carried me swiftly through the road. I was able to control the arachnelegs as easily as my own and I often liked to use them anyway because they were faster.  
  
I reached my base and entered my personal laboratory. It was mainly just a small metal building that was mostly underground and composed of a jumble of wires. I had gotten the wires to fit together into a computer. It couldn't talk, but it could take spoken orders.  
  
"Computer! Take me to the transmission room!" I ordered as I stood on my small traveling platform. I was immediately whisked away to the transmission chamber. I wanted to contact the Almighty Tallest right away.  
  
When my platform stopped moving, I found myself right in front of my transmission screen. "Computer! Open a line with the Almighty Tallest! They are on Conventia right now."  
  
The computer obeyed and the screen was suddenly filled with the upper portions of the two Almighty Tallest; Red and Purple.  
  
"What do you want?" Red asked wearily.  
  
"I have just been promoted to the rank of Invader." I informed them.  
  
Both of them laughed.   
  
"Good for you, but there is one problem." Red said, stiffling a laugh.  
  
"Do you have proof of your new rank?" Purple asked.  
  
I looked around for my test paper which would hold the proof. I must have done something with it without realizing.  
  
"I have it here somewhere." I said. "Just give me a second."  
  
They both exchanged looks of annoyance. I reached into the small pocket that was on the side of the usual Garnet of common Irkens. Nothing. I then reached into the case that was next to me and found, to my relief, that I had slipped it inside sometime on the way to my land.  
  
"Here, this is my proof. Examine the code bar on this and tell me what you think." I held up the test-paper for the two tallest Irkens to read.  
  
"Uh, I can't see the code bar." Red said, squinting at the screen.  
  
"Could you send us a copy?" Purple urged.  
  
"Send you a copy? That could take hours. I might as well deliver it personally." I said, confused.  
  
"No, there's a small slot underneath the transmission screen. Just stick the paper in there" Red explained.  
  
"It's not that hard." Purple added.  
  
"At least, not for superior Irkens." Red corrected.  
  
I was fuming as I slipped the paper into the slot. My paper was immediately shot back out and an exact copy of it was delivered to the hands of Purple.  
  
I watched as Red took the copy from Purple's hand and use a small hand-held code bar reader to interpret it.  
  
"What do you know?" Red said in surprise once he got the results. "She is an Invader now."  
  
"So what do we do with her? We only had four left-over planets in our planned form of attack." Purple said to Red in a voice he didn't think I could hear.  
  
"We could send her to assist another Invader." Red suggested. "But, which one?"  
  
"She does remind me of someone I've seen before.... She has a very short stature."  
  
"You know, she looks kind of like...."  
  
Purple snapped his fingers. "Of course!" He exclaimed.  
  
"Invader Cas," Red started. I was filled with pride when he called me an Invader. "We have found a position for you."   
  
"Where?" I demanded. "I want to know my new post!"  
  
"Come to Conventia and we'll talk to you in the meeting chamber."   
  
"Can I have my own SIR?" I asked excitedly.  
  
"Uh, we ran out of those." Purple trailed off.  
  
"But, I need a robot!" I replied in disgust. "You expect me to take over a planet without a robot slave?"  
  
"We didn't think we would receive more than four new Invaders." Red said.  
  
"We can make you one." Purple suggested.  
  
I sighed in disappointment. "Sure, just so long as it is obedient and my slave." I consented.  
  
They both laughed nervously and disappeared from the screen. Red came back for a minute to give me a short message.  
  
"Like we said, take your Voot Runner to Conventia. We'll give you your robot and your assignment once you meet us in the Meeting Chamber." He said.  
  
"Okay, I'll be right there!" I said excitedly.  
  
The transmission closed and I stepped back onto my platform.  
  
"Computer, take me to my sleeping quarters!" I ordered.  
  
I was immediately carried off to my personal area where all of my belongings were kept. I didn't want to leave anything behind that could be useful on my mission.   
  
"Let's see, I might need my mini-computer." I said, removing a small computer from a shelf next to my bed.  
  
As I activated a small carrying case to store my items, I found that I could hardly contain my excitement. It had always been my dream to be an Invader. Operation Impending Doom One took place a couple seasons before I was born, so I hadn't known what it was like when Zim messed up on it. But, I had always hoped I would be included in the planning of Operation Impending Doom Two.  
  
I grabbed some of my other possessions and shoved them into the case. I was sure to include my home creator, and plans for my lab.  
  
"Computer, take me to the ship deck!" I ordered. I carried my case in my hand as the platform carried me to where my Voot Runner was kept. I was a seasoned flyer, but I had never flown my ship to another planet before.  
  
I hopped into my ship and slipped my case under my seat. I too the controls and made one last command to my computer. "Computer, open the roof."  
  
It took my command and the roof above me opened to show the green Irk atmosphere. I started my ship and navigated it through the roof and away from planet Irk.  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Chapters three, four and five are done. They'll be up as soon as I upload them. 


	3. On Conventia

Well, here's chapter three. Still not on Earth, but getting closer.  
Disclaimer: Conventia, The Almighty Tallest, The Voot Cruiser, they belong to Jhonen Vasquez. Cas and OIR, the plot? They belong to me.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
CHAPTER THREE-- ON CONVENTIA  
  
  
I had never actually left the planet before in my life. I had seen screen caps of the different places in the Universe, but had never been allowed to visit them.  
  
Now, I would be doing just that. I would sit in a meeting hall on the planet of Conventia, and then make a temporary home on a planet that would soon be taken over by the Irken Empire.  
  
"Let's see. Where is Conventia?" I suddenly realized that I had no idea where I was going. "Computer, bring up a map of the Universe."  
  
The ship's computer listened to my command and brought up a map of the Universe on the main screen. There were three screens in my Voot Runner. The main one was for looking in front of the ship (I had modified the ship to not have a window). The secondary screen was for transmissions and stuff that I wanted off of the main screen. The back screen was for seeing what was behind my ship.  
  
"Focus on the course between here and Conventia." I ordered.  
  
A red path became highlighted on the map, from what was apparently between Irk and Conventia. "Zoom in." It zoomed in to show only Conventia, Irk, the path, and the planets in between.  
  
"Show my position and direction." I said, and a small ship appeared where I was. I saw that I needed to turn left to make it to my destination. It was almost a direct route from where I was to Conventia.  
  
I turned the ship one-fourth of a circle to the left and started accelerating.  
  
"Remove the map." I said, and the map was removed from my view. I now saw endless stars in a black sky. In the distance, many light-years away, I could make out what could be a planet: Conventia.  
  
As I zoomed toward the planet, I noticed a decrease in the temperature. I could see in my back screen that I was heading away from Lyra; and that it was the closest star to where I was.  
  
"Activate the heating sensors." I ordered the computer. Right away, the sensors adjusted the heat in the ship to that of a normal day in the Light Season on Irk.  
  
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I saw nothing but endless stars and Conventia, which was becoming bigger as I got nearer. Soon, I was close enough to see the Irken Docking Bay which orbited the planet.   
  
On the planet below, I would find the Almighty Tallest. They would have expected me to be there by now, and would be growing impatient. I had been slowed down by the fact that I had never been here before, and by the fact that I refused to use the Auto-Pilot.  
  
I maneuvered my ship closer to the orbiting dock and pulled in to park it into on of the large ship bays. I turned off the power in my ship and exited, making a mental note that I had parked it in space five-hundred fifty-two. I walked to the entrance hall that was on the far side of the dock.  
  
The entrance was comprised of three main parts. To my left was the part labeled "INVADERS", which was a few teleporters that I guessed would lead to the meeting chamber on the planet. To my right was labeled "TALLEST". It was two larger personal transporters that would take the Almighty Tallest wherever they wanted to go. In front of me was a large door labeled "OTHER". It would probably lead to the audience teleporters that would have taken other Irkens to watch the Great Assigning.   
  
Seeing the other section made me think of the most recent great assigning. I had watched it on the Irken Universal Network, not able to get tickets to it. I had held my breath in the one moment when Zim had shown up, with the rest of the Irken population.  
  
I stepped into one of the teleporters under the Invader section. The entrance hall melted from my sight, and it was replaced with a new room.  
  
This room, the Meeting Chamber, was empty except for a single chair in the middle of the room. The Almighty Tallest stood in front of the chair, unreadable expressions on their faces.  
  
"It's about time you got here, Invader Cas." Red said.  
  
"Did you get lost on the way here?" Purple inquired.  
  
"Something like that." I muttered.  
  
"Well, anyway, down to business." Red said, motioning for me to sit down in the chair. I walked out of the teleporter and over to the chair, I sat down silently and waited for the Almighty Tallest to continue.  
  
"You are a quite superior Irken-" Purple started.  
  
"Not as superior as us, but still superior." Red interrupted.  
  
"Yes, you are very superior considering your size and your gender, however." Purple finished.  
  
"However, you're as short as the last Invader that failed us." Red added.  
  
"But, that Invader didn't get one-hundred percent on the final Invader exam." Purple added more.  
  
"When Invader Zim reached an actual planet with intelligent life on it, we decided that..."  
  
"One, he should stay there; and...."  
  
"Two, we should take over the planet...."  
  
"But, we can't be guaranteed that Zim will leave us the planet in a good enough shape for us to make the humans our slaves...."  
  
"And the Earth our territory."  
  
"So," Purple continued, "You are going to go and make sure Zim leaves the planet in good condition for us."  
  
"We figure that it would be a good position for your first assignment, because Zim has yet to be found out. All the Earth people think he's one of them."  
  
"So if you, too, are not discovered, than you will be proved a true Invader."  
  
All the while that they were talking, I sat there silently keeping a plain expression on my face. It had been taught in the Invader Acadamy that we were to mask our emotions from our enemies.  
  
While my face looked blank, my mind was reeling. Sent to watch over another Invader? Sent to make sure the Earth was in good shape and that Zim didn't leave it? There had never been something like this before.   
  
This was just too wierd. It didn't make any sense to me. Invaders never had others watch over them. Never in Irk's history had two Invaders been assigned to the same planet. I thought that the Almighty Tallest would at least realize that I could do better things for them if I was on my own planet.  
  
"You're trying to get rid of me, aren't you?" I said, it was the only thing I could come up with.  
  
"Of course not." Red laughed.  
  
"This is just your first test." Purple started to explain.  
  
"We don't know how good of an Invader you can be yet. We need to see your skills in action before you are given a real assignment." Red finished.  
  
"Then, you don't trust me because I'm so short?" I summarized.  
  
"Yes." Purple admitted.  
  
"But, if you help in making Earth Irken territory, we will trust you enough to have your own planet to take over next time we do this." Red quickly added.  
  
"So, when do I depart?" I asked eagerly. If Zim wasn't discovered yet, than I would never be discovered. I had a lot more brain-power than someone who could accidently almost destroy their own planet.  
  
"You can leave right away." Purple answered.  
  
"And, we did find you a SIR unit." Red remembered.  
  
"Well, that's good. I am going to need one on Earth." I muttered.  
  
"I'll go get it for you." Purple offered.  
  
"I'll go retrieve it," Red said at the same time.  
  
Purple and Red turned to face each other. Their eyes narrowed and they both opened their mouths. I sensed an arguement coming on.  
  
"But, I made it's skeleton." Purple argued, jabbing his finger into Red's chest.  
  
"I supplied its brain." Red retorted, knocking away Purple's finger.  
  
"It was only half robot parts."  
  
"I ran out of wires. I had to use my paper-clips and pennies to fill the rest of the space."  
  
"Just get the SIR already." I spoke up impatiently.  
  
Both of them left the room and came back a moment later with a SIR unit following them.  
  
"Here is your OIR unit." Red announced.  
  
"OIR?" I asked. "What does OIR mean?"  
  
"It stands for Obedient Information Retreival" Purple informed me.  
  
I looked at the robot. It looked like the general SIR unit, with its red eyes and loyal look. However, its electrically illuminated eyes suddenly turned green. It looked at me with its now green stare and giggled.  
  
"Hello, master." It said playfully.  
  
"Is it supposed to look like that?" I asked.  
  
"Why, yes, it is." Purple said, giving Red a look that I couldn't see. "We- er- had to use makeshift wires for half of its brain."  
  
"It wasn't my fault the supply wasn't big enough to make a whole SIR brain." Red countered.  
  
"But it was your fault. You were the one that ordered the parts from Wireon." Purple replied.  
  
While they continued arguing, I looked at my new robot companion. Only half of its brain was what it should be. I wondered how that would affect my mission. At least they had made it obediant.  
  
"OIR, go and start my ship." I ordered the robot.  
  
"Yes, mam." It said, its eyes snapped back to red as it stood at attention. Then, they turned green again. "What button do I push?"  
  
I shook my head. "Oh, boy. We aren't going to get very far. It's the green button under the main screen.  
  
"Okay, I'm on it, mistress." OIR's eyes turned red again and it left the room through the teleporters.  
  
"I parked in space five-hundred fifty-two!" I called after it.  
  
I turned back to the Almighty Tallest, who were still bickering about my OIR's poor brain power.  
  
"It's your fault. You didn't do the math to see how many wires we would need!" Purple yelled.  
  
"QUIET!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "My OIR is a fine robot. She will be fine in my mission."  
  
Both of the Almighty Tallest turned to look at me.  
  
"Well, that's good. It's Red's fault if you dislike your OIR, though." Purple said, pointing to Red.  
  
"You two are so immature." I said hotly. "I will be fine as long as you two stop arguing every second."  
  
"Well, then, you should just go and start your mission if you are going to tell us how to run Irk." Red retorted.  
  
"I've heard better." I replied, getting up and walking to the teleporter that I had entered from. "I'll contact you the moment I arrive at Earth."  
  
With that, the Meeting Room dissolved from my view and was replaced once again with the Entrance Hall. I walked back to the landing dock and over to my ship. The engine was still off.  
  
"OIR!" I called. "Didn't you manage to find the button?"  
  
"Which one is the main screen?" Was the reply.  
  
I sighed heavily and climbed into the cockpit. I hit the start button and started to pilot the ship out of the landing dock and away from Conventia.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Well, there's Chapter Three. Chapter Four's coming up real soon! 


	4. Destination: Earth

I'm not going to bother with a disclaimer again. You should already know all of that from earlier chapters.  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
CHAPTER FOUR-- Destination: Earth  
  
"Ship, bring up the map of the Universe. Show me the route from here to Earth." I ordered.  
  
"Ooh, what planet is that?" OIR asked, touching Irk with one of his robot hands.  
  
"Don't touch that screen!" I shrieked.  
  
The ship's computer, thinking that I now wanted to go to Irk, stopped in the middle of the line it was making to Earth, and curved it to head back to Irk.  
  
"Now, look what you've done!" I said to OIR angrily.  
  
"What did I do? Are you talking about that line?" It replied in confusion.  
  
"You ruined the path. SET IT RIGHT!" I lost my temper temporarily.  
  
To my surprise, OIR listened to my command, its eyes flipping back to red. It somehow turned the curve of the line away from Irk and back towards Earth.  
  
"What? How did you do that?" I asked in wonderment.   
  
"I don't know." OIR replied, flipping back to green.  
  
"I'll figure you out later." I said, staring at the map and trying to memorize the path to Earth. It was no use, it was a very complicated path.  
  
"Ship, move the map to the secondary screen and show the front view on the main screen!" I ordered.  
  
OIR went red again and somehow helped the ship's computer complete the task. I ignored it and looked back to the front screen.  
  
"OIR, there's an intersection up ahead." I said, but was interrupted before I could finish.  
  
"Oh, is there? I've never seen one of those before." OIR said, again green.  
  
"LISTEN TO ME! Look on the map and tell me what way to go!" I said, becoming frustrated.  
  
"Yes, Mistress!" OIR said, snapping back to red. She consulted the map as I had told her to and she relayed the answer. "The map shows to go right."  
  
"Thank you OIR." I said, turning the ship right and continuing on. "Where's the next turn?"  
  
OIR looked at me, thoroughly confused. She was once again green. "What turn? Where? I don't see any turn."  
  
"Grrr!" I said. "Look at the map and tell me where to turn next!"  
  
"Oh." OIR switched back to red and looked at the map. "Turn right when you reach the planet Nucimna."  
  
"Thank you, OIR." I said again. She switched right back to green.  
  
"Nooooo problem."  
  
I sighed and accelerated the ship, looking for any signs of the planet Nucimna. I eventually saw the planet. It had to be Nucimna, because a city of solar-powered lights shone in that word.  
  
"Well, that's a new one. I've never heard of a planet that shows their name to the whole Universe." I observed.  
  
"I like it!" OIR replied, giggling. "I would have never known what planet it was otherwise."  
  
"Are you going to be like this the whole trip?" I asked in exasperation.  
  
"I dunno." OIR said, looking through the back-view screen to see the shining lights of Nucimna.  
  
"It's going to be a long trip." I said wearily, consulting the map for where to go next. I didn't trust OIR, who was still staring at the Nucimna lights, with the job anymore.  
  
  
It took us another two months to reach Earth. It was on the edge of the galaxy, whereas all the major planets were grouped in the middle.  
  
"I don't see any way that the Earth people could be very smart. They are too far away from everything." I said to OIR.  
  
"You never know. They might be brilliant." OIR responded.  
  
"Then why have we never seen any Earth creatures in our part of the galaxy? You would think that they would be able to send spaceships to our area if they were smart enough to."  
  
"Oh, yeah. You're right, and I'm wrong. You're so much smarter than I am." OIR said.  
  
"You have a job to do." I said, changing the subject. "Ship, remove the map of Earth from the secondary screen and replace it with several screens of Earth people in their daily lives."  
  
"Ooh." OIR said, looking at the images. "They have pretty animals."  
  
She pointed at a picture of a creature with fur, four feet, and triangular ears. "Can I use that animal for my disguise? Pleeaase?"  
  
"Okay. Look at the creatures and tell me all you can about them." I ordered.  
  
OIR turned red again and stared at the screens for a full twenty minutes, until I prompted an answer out of her.  
  
"Well."  
  
"Well what?" She asked, turning to green.  
  
"Tell me what you found out!" I said.  
  
"Oh, you mean that." She turned back to red and brought her robot arm up to her forehead in salute. "The only sentient species on the planet are the humans. They are the ones with the two legs and peachish skin."  
  
I spotted a screen that showed a larger human, probably female, holding the hand of a smaller one that was probably male.  
  
"The young are the smaller ones, while the adult are the tallest."  
  
"Thank you, OIR." I said. "I will take the form of a human and you can take a...a...."  
  
"I'm going to be a kitty!" OIR yelled happily.  
  
"Yes, you will be a 'kitty'." I said, then added to the ship, "Ship, Locate the Irken Invader named Zim."  
  
The ship responded by showing four pictures of his location. The first one showed his up close, then further away in each of the others.   
  
I had never seen Zim before. I knew what he must look like, because the only difference between Irkens was our size. I knew that I looked like him, except that I was a girl.  
  
Right now, he was wearing his disguise. He looked exactly like a human, except for his green skin. He was in a building with several others humans. The building was labeled "Skool".  
  
"So, this is where the humans learn, is it?" I observed.  
  
"I think so." OIR replied.  
  
"If he's taking the role of a human youth, then so will I." I decided. "It's time for us to make a landing on this planet."  
  
"Where will we live?" OIR asked curiously.  
  
"I don't know yet. You do have a good point, though. We need a home." I replied. "Ship, locate a vacant area near where Zim's home is."  
  
The ship did a quick scan and eventually showed me an overview of Zim's home, with an empty lot only a couple streets away.  
  
"We will build a home there." I said, "Ship, fly us closer to the lot and land in the middle. And, do it silently!" 


	5. The First Night

Here we go with chapter five. I finally got around to uploading it ^_^.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Zim. I don't own anything save for this pitiful story and my even more pitiful characters.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
CHAPTER FIVE-- The First Night  
  
  
I was, for once, using the auto-pilot to make a smooth silent landing. As the ship landed, I started pushing buttons that controlled the settings. I made it so that the Hologram Projector and the House Drill would activate as soon as we landed.  
  
The ship landed roughly, bouncing OIR and me into the air and almost through the metal shell. I shook off the aftershock and pushed a button to make a door open in the side.  
  
"Ooh, I like the door!" OIR said, going to the panel that housed the door control buttons and playing with them.  
  
"OIR! Get away from the door control panel!" I ordered. OIR went red with the order and backed away, leaving the door in a closed position. I pushed the open button and hopped out of the Voot Runner.  
  
"OIR, get out here." I commanded softly. OIR followed my orders and exited the ship. The Voot Runner activated the Hologram Projector, which was an Irken invention that would disguise me using holographic technology.  
  
The selection screen was hand-held, so I picked it up. I scanned through some of the pre-made choices of human disguises to find none of them to my liking. Instead of choosing one of them, I picked up my point pencil and drew a sketch of what I wanted my disguise to look like. When I was done, I set down the selection screen.  
  
"Computer, I have made my decision. Activate the clothing stage." I ordered, standing in between the two halves that would create and attach my projector.. They rumbled and shook for several minutes before shooting the projector into my arm. A push of the button would activate my disguise, so I pushed it.  
  
I looked down at my new disguise. I was wearing my normal Irken dress, except for a color change which I had specified. It was now green instead of maroon.   
  
"Hold up a mirror!" I commanded OIR. The robot got back into the ship and emerged holding a small hand-held mirror. She held it up in front of my face.  
  
"Wow, it looks better than I thought it would." I commented, staring at my new face in the mirror. My skin was still green, but I had ears and a nose, two eye thingies over my eyes, a pair of glasses, and blonde hair.  
  
"OIR, it's your turn." I said, scrolling through all the pre-arranged kitty disguises. I stopped on one that showed a cat with short fur, white legs, chin and stomach, dark brown on the back, and grey spots everywhere.  
  
Once the hologram was activated, OIR looked down at herself.  
  
"Wow, I hardly recognize myself." OIR marveled. "I barely even recognize you."  
  
"Oh, come on." I said, "Let's get on with making our house."  
  
"You should make it all purple and pretty." OIR suggested.  
  
Almost instinctively, I ignored her remark. I instead examined every other house on the street. "OIR, we have to fit in with the street. We don't want anyone to get suspicious."  
  
"Okay, make it a dark color. I would prefer you to make it purple, though." OIR sounded a little disappointed, so I ended up consenting.  
  
"Fine. I'll make it a dark purple." I sighed.  
  
"Yay!" OIR yelled.  
  
I quickly sketched a house that looked exactly like every other on the street, specified the colors, and planted the house-designer in the ground.  
  
"Now we just stand back and watch our new home created itself." I said, scooping up OIR and going out into the middle of the paved street.  
  
Only a matter of minutes later, a tall, purple house towered in front of us.  
  
"Look how pretty it is!" OIR crowed.  
  
"Never mind that." I said distractedly. "Let's just worry about nobody noticing the house that's been suddenly erected here."  
  
"If the humans are as dumb as you said they were, we haven't got a problem." OIR reasoned.   
  
I had to raise my eyebrow at that. "Wow, you do have some brain-power." I marveled.  
  
OIR's reply was a vacant stare. "Maybe I was wrong." I said, opening the front door of the house and going inside.  
  
The front room looked a lot like the ones shown on the caps back in the Voot runner. My ship was now stored safely in my secret lab, so no humans would find it. The living room had shabby, green carpet, a red sofa, and a small television set. The dark purple walls of the room were bare, aside from a carefully concealed view-screen.  
  
Even though I had no idea what a television was used for, I saw that it was a common thing throughout a human's home. OIR would most likely find it's uses our for me.  
  
"I think we had a good arrival." I said. "Not the best possible, but pretty good."  
  
"Well, I think we could have made the house red." OIR said, just now adding her second thoughts.  
  
I smacked myself in the head. This was going to be a long time that we were to spend on Earth together.  
  
A very long time.  
  
"Starting tomorrow, our main plan is going to be a mix of blending in and finding Zim." I informed OIR.  
  
"Yes, ma'am." it said, "What can I do?"  
  
"You can just sit here and watch over the base. I will be going out to that skool tomorrow to meet Zim. I don't think he'll like me being there, but I've got to contact him." I said, already starting to make plans.  
  
"Can't I go to skool tomorrow too?" OIR pleaded. "I don't want to stay home alone."  
  
"I don't think you're allowed to go to skool. Did you see any Earth animals at the skool?"  
  
"No." OIR admitted sadly. "Why wouldn't they allow animals, though?"  
  
"You're staying here, end of topic." I finalized.  
  
"Okay. I'll stay here." OIR agreed, though she looked disappointed. 


	6. Skool

DISCLAIMER: Once again, I must say that I own nothing but Cas and OIR. Zim, Dib and the rest of the IZ cast and technology belong to greatness that is Jhonen Vasquez. Go ahead and read chapter six now!  
  
  
CHAPTER SIX-- Skool  
  
  
The next morning, I woke up and immediately reactivated the disguise-hologram. It was too uncomfortable to rest in, so I had turned it off.  
  
"Can't I please go to skool with you?" OIR begged again while we prepared some food.  
  
"No, you can't. You have to stay here." I replied, the third time that morning.  
  
We ate some Oobel, an Irken delicacy. It was nice to still have some Irken food with me, but it probably wouldn't last as long as I was on Earth.  
  
I could only hope that Earth food was edible.  
  
"Can't I please go!" OIR wailed as I got ready to leave.  
  
"For the last time, no." I said again. The front door opened as I approached, and I was on my way to skool.  
  
As the skool building came closer and closer, I became more and more nervous. If this skool was anything like the academies on Irk, I was doomed.  
  
The large, red building finally stood in front of me. A large playground, with play things that I was not at all familiar with, surrounding the entire facility. Many children ran and frolicked around.  
  
"Excuse me," I distracted a child and he stopped. "Can you tell me where the office of this... building... is?"  
  
He stared at me. "You have green skin...."  
  
I looked down at myself. "So. Can you help me, or not?"  
  
"I don't help aliens." He grinned a little. "I'm not going to help you take over Earth. I will defend this planet to my death!"  
  
He frolicked away. I didn't like that kid. He seemed to have already caught onto my secret. I could only hope the rest of the children weren't like him.  
  
  
By the time class started, I was being led to my new classroom. Hopefully, it was the same class Zim attended. That would help me keep in closer contact with him.  
  
"Who's that?" A teacher in black with large glasses growled as I entered the classroom. The office lady whispered to the teacher, then left.  
  
"Looks like we have yet another addition to this hopeless class." The teacher sighed. "Her name is Cas. Now, Cas," She turned away from the class to face me, "I'm Ms. Bitters. I want you to stay quiet. You will sit at that table in back, next to Willy. Make any introductions now, and remain quiet for the rest of class."  
  
The class contained many, many human children. There were all disgusting, especially they kid I would have to sit next to. Willy was covered in piles of dirt.  
  
Much to my relief, Zim was in the class. He had been sitting at his desk with his head resting on his hand, but his elbow had slipped off the edge of the desk. I addressed my introduction to him.  
  
"I'm a normal child, just like Zim here." I announced. "In fact, I'm from the same place Zim is from. I know Zim. I'll take my seat now."  
  
No one was paying attention, except a kid in the front row. He was the kid from the playground, and his mouth was hanging open.  
  
"Don't you guys see it?" The kid yelled, pointing at me. "There's another alien here!"  
  
I glared at him, along with the rest of the class. They didn't appear to believe him, they didn't sound like they did either.  
  
"That's all you ever talk about, Dib. I can't believe you call every new kid in the class an alien." One kid said.  
  
"Yeah, I think you're the alien!" Another laughed.  
  
There was only one thing left to do; I stuck out my tongue at the human, Dib, and took my seat.  
  
  
  
Lunch was a horrible time of day. I picked up my tray from surly lunch ladies who filled it with filth. I couldn't believe that humans could digest such horrible food!  
  
The lunchroom had several tables in rows. Each table had about six seats, but many of the chairs had been shoved under other tables to fit everyone's friends.  
  
Zim sat alone at a table. Dib was watching him from the other side of the room, sitting alone with a purple-haired girl. I didn't know whether I should try to sit with Zim, or if he preferred to 'eat' alone.  
  
I took my chances with him. Keeping my head high and walking quickly, I made my way through the crowd of children to the table.  
  
"Hi, Zim." My tray dropped quickly to the table, and the peas scattered slightly. I sat down in the chair next to him and waited for his response.  
  
"Uh, hi, um, Cas." He stuttered a little as he talked, which I found both annoying and disturbing.  
  
"Your not going to talk like that the whole time, are you?" I asked.  
  
"What? No, don't be silly." Zim had sank low in his chair, but now he straightened up again. "I don't normally talk like that."  
  
"That's nice to know." I muttered. "Do you know why I'm here."  
  
"To make a mockery of Zim!" He scared me by jumping onto the table and sticking his fist in my face.  
  
"That's not it at all." I said quickly. "The Tallest just sent me here to...uh, assist you with preparing this planet for conquest."  
  
"They dare make a mockery of me?!" Zim sounded just as angry and insulted. "Do they not believe I can take care of this planet by myself? These humans are easily under my control without your help!"  
  
"Sure, Zim." Dib was walking behind us, carrying his tray. "You've really taken care of the human race." He snorted and continued walking.  
  
The peas tasted horrible. I had only tried them out of curiosity, but that didn't last long. I quickly shoved the tray away from me and continued talking to Zim.  
  
"I didn't come here by choice; I would have gone to another planet on the other side of the galaxy. Unfortunately, the Tallest sent me here. I am not one to disobey my commanding leaders."  
  
"Now I'm not good enough for you? There is no one as good as ZIM!" This guy was sure easy to insult.  
  
"That's not what I meant." Smoothing over this would not be easy. "I just meant that I didn't want to intrude on your invaded territory."  
  
"Okay then. If you're here to help, I guess I can't decline the offer of the Tallest." He climbed off the table and sat back down in his chair. "Tell me where you live, and I'll visit you tonight."  
  
"Why are you going to visit?" I couldn't see any reason in him doing that.  
  
"To check on the status of your equipment, of course." Zim got up to dump his tray, then left the lunchroom.  
  
A few minutes later, I realized why I really didn't want him to come over. OIR would be an embarrassment to me. What would I do about my robot? The only way to keep her from giving Zim a bad impression would be to keep her busy with order after order.  
  
Dumping my own tray, I followed Zim out onto the playground from lunch recess. 


	7. The Little Trespasser

Here's the final chapter. I've grown tired of writing this fic, so this is the end.  
  
DISCLAIMER: You don't know it yet?  
-----------------------------------------  
CHAPTER SEVEN-- The Little Trespasser  
  
  
Skool was out. I purposely stayed behind a little late, organizing my section of the table, cleaning Willy's a little. When I finally picked up my textbook and pencil to leave, Zim was already waiting by the door impatiently.  
  
"I almost left without you." He said, causing me to mutter a faint apology.  
  
"Sorry, sheesh. Let's just get going."  
  
I was unaware that I was dragging my feet so much. I didn't really want Zim to go to my house, but he insisted it was the right thing to do. Zim was going on about how he was sure his equipment would be superior compared to mine, and how he knew so much more about the humans than I did; I wasn't listening any more, though.  
  
Zoning out was something new to me, I wasn't a zoner. However, I wasn't too interested in listening to his boasting.  
  
We reached my home quicker than I would have liked. The door opened as we approached it, and a few of my many cameras in the yard followed us with their robot gazes.  
  
"Very clean." Zim stated, as he looked around. He merely glanced at OIR, who lay on the ground, asleep, and didn't say a thing about her.  
  
I felt horrible as Zim practically led me through my own home. He was critiquing everything, and I was starting to worry that everything wouldn't be good enough for him.   
  
"This is a wonderous laboratory." Zim finally said. "But compared to mine, it's a pitiful failure!"  
  
We were now standing in the main control center in the top floor of my home. I heard footsteps coming up the squeaky staircase that had been placed for access to the higher floors.  
  
"OIR, is that you?" I called.  
  
"OIR?" Zim asked. "I thought it was a normal SIR robot."  
  
Before I could explain, my robot emerged. Her face wore a broad grin and, when she spoke, she sounded overly excited.  
  
"We have company!" She screamed. "A little boy came to visit us!"  
  
That caused Zim to snigger. "You can't even keep the humans away!"  
  
Practically flying down the stairs, I went to meet whoever it was that wanted to bother me. When I reached the door, there was no one there. Glancing around, I carefully closed it. "I thought you said someone was here." I said scornfully to OIR, who had followed me down.  
  
"Someone did come. I let him into the kitchen, because he said he didn't want to wait for you outside."  
  
I growled very slightly and yelled an order to the house. "Computer, locate a boy that's in the house."  
  
Aware of Zim's obvious laughs and sniggers, I ran to the kitchen in hopes of finding the boy. Unfortunately, it was empty. This had to look really good to Zim. Seeing the new, pointless Irken on this planet being an obvious fool.  
  
"Subject found." The computer's voice rang out. "A human child is in the basement, level six."  
  
Why was the human in my lab? Was it the boy who had realized my secret? Too many questions that I didn't have time to answer. All that mattered right now was my finding this human before he destroyed something vital.  
  
Too late. Something downstairs made a loud crash, it sounded suspiciously like my AIL (All Irken Link) system.  
  
"Are all humans like this?" I asked Zim as I went to the living room.   
  
"Only this one." He answered. "I think I'll just sit here and let you handle him yourself."  
  
Another growl as I ripped open the door that lead down to my lab. As I ran down to the sixth floor, I ran into someone.  
  
It was the black-haired boy from skool. He was the one who had accused me of being and alien, and he now knew I was one for sure.  
  
"What are you doing in my lab?!" I shouted angrily.  
  
"Sheesh. I didn't even do any real damage." He said, once he recovered from our impact. "All I broke was that screeny thing."  
  
"GET OUT BEFORE I DO SOMETHING DRASTIC!" This time I shouted louder than I ever had before.  
  
"Would you really do something drastic?" I was growing to hate smart mouths.  
  
"Yes. Now get out of here."  
  
While Guiding him up the stairs and pushing him out my front door, I was always aware of Zim's grinning face. He was surprised by my way of dealing with the kid, but he was also laughing at it.  
  
"That was nicely handled." Zim chuckled. "Not like anything I expected."  
  
Shrugging, I was ready to ask the next question. "Are you done inspecting my lab yet?"  
  
Zim was a bit reluctant to leave in the end, but I was finally able to shoo him out.  
  
After he left, I went down to my lab and lay there in front of the computer for several minutes. I thought of nothing but Zim, and didn't mind doing so. Sad as it was to say, I was developing a crush on him.   
  
There were so many qualities that set the Irken apart from all others I had ever met. He didn't care what others thought of him, or he didn't act like it at least.   
  
When I was finally able to pull myself out of my romatic wishings, there was still the AIL system to fix. That human could be a bigger threat to my mission than anyone else on the planet, even OIR.   
  
The robot meant well, that was clear, but she didn't help fix the system. When she did try, it only made matters worse.  
  
The Tallest only sent me to this planet, expecting me to fail like Zim; I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. The Armada would never come, of that I was sure, so I would have to secure the planet alone, with Zim.  
  
This mission might turn out to actually be fun, in the end!  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
That's it. The end. I wrote the rough draft for a future fic, though, and I'll have that up soon. 


End file.
